Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith on breaking the status quo at the Met Gala: 'Anytime a Black woman is enjoying herself, it is something to be celebrated'
Joshua Jackson is in awe of his wife.
Ahead of the 2022 Met Gala, the actor shared with Yahoo Life that Jodie Turner-Smith, attending the biggest night in fashion for the first time, has "embraced the joy" of the chaotic evening and is "taking everything out of this that she can" rather than getting stressed or overwhelmed.
To keep levelheaded — and look her best — the Queen and Slim star carved out some me time and indulged in a bit of extra self-care, starting with physical wellness.
"I've been at pilates every day doing my lymphatic drainage massages, and my facials, just like taking care of self," she says, adding that she doesn't usually get to spend this much time pampering herself.
"It's actually really nice because in our business this is what people get to see, right, they get to see us, like, celebrating each other and celebrating design and art and fashion and 'Oh, it's just one big party and premieres,' but the reality is, it's really hard on your body. You don't get a lot of sleep, you have all these first world problems but it's a lot of stress and strain and you know, when you fly around everywhere, like what that does to your body, so we often don't take care of ourselves…so this has actually been a really fun little excuse to be like, 'Oh, I need to take care of my body right now.'"
She also wants to make sure she is in prime condition to make the most of her first-ever Met Gala.
"I'm going to be in a costume wearing heels and I don't want to fall down, I want to dance all night," she says.
Hubby Josh is no Met Gala novice and has no worries that Jodie will make it an unforgettable night without any help from him.
"I have not given her any [advice,] my only tip is like this: It's a crazy wild thing. It just is and it's madness and the stairs are intense and the night is kind of intense and if you lean into having a good time, you will have a good time. And I know that she's going to do that, I'm so happy that I get to be beside her for her first Met experience," he says.
Beyond pilates and massages, the actress has also been working with her beauty team for the big night, something she views as an opportunity to bring more seats to the table.
"I have always wanted to have a Black team and I feel that the number one thing that in my existence and in my career and in what I'm trying to do for people that look like me in front of the camera is create an environment of representation," she says of her deliberateness in seeking out Black makeup artists and helping them grow their craft. "I want to do the same thing behind the camera, I want to do the same thing for the people that make it happen as well. There's so many barriers to entry for people of color into the business and I think that the best thing that we can do as artists of color is actually help each other in that way by being that network for each other," she says.
The two are attending this year's Met Gala with Gucci and Motorola, the latter of which is making its debut at fashion's biggest night at this year's gala.
The brand's "HangUpOnIt" campaign for the razr phone, famous for its beloved "hang up" action, is encouraging everyone to "hang up" on the status quo, something Jodie and Joshua are all about.
"This is my lovely wife's first Met Gala. So that's ditching the norm right there. But I think, you know, we are coming out of, hopefully, probably the most anxiety-inducing time in everybody's–life and so just the idea that you could return to something that is maybe a little frivolous and fun and it's for its own purpose, after this intense experience that we've all been through, I feel like that is really ditching a norm," says Jackson, adding that simply enjoying life disrupts the status quo of the past two years. "I feel like just the celebration of beauty and American design and people getting together again, that in itself is kind of a revolutionary act right now."
His "lovely wife" is just as excited to hang up on societal norms, something she says her mere existence embodies. "I think anytime a Black woman is enjoying herself, it is something to be celebrated. It is saying like the norm and whatever the status quo is, I'm allowed to be happy and I'm gonna be happy."
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